


After The First Time

by FlowerFly



Series: From Friends To Lovers [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Romance, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-02-28 00:36:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13259907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerFly/pseuds/FlowerFly
Summary: Pepper wakes up in the middle of the night. Alone. In Tony's bed.Everything has changed. (Or has it?)





	1. Alone

Pepper drifted slowly from dreams to reality. She felt soft and warm inside, and completely relaxed. Something good had happened, her body knew it before her mind could remember. 

The alluring scent of the man she loved that surrounded her and made her smile. The details from previous filled her mind: the look in his dark eyes before a passionate kiss, Tony's facial hair against her inner thighs, his hands holding her tight under him, an orgasm after another so long she stopped counting… Him holding her sitting on his lap, trembling from all the stress that was gone.

She remembered his confession. "No, I wasn't dying. I just had a palladium poisoning that, well, could have caused to… Okay, I was in a serious health condition but I'm totally okay now. The new element is 100% non-toxic… I tried to tell you, but… I kind of didn't want to because I didn't want you to worry…." 

And then he had kissed her. And then she had stopped worrying, about anything. ever. 

She turned around. Full moon lighted the room. She could see the stars above the silent water. 

The bed was empty. 

Of course it was. 

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid girl! 

How many years had she seen girls climbing into Tony's bed? Hadn't it been her task to guide them out of the house, tell them it must have been love or at least lust but it's over now, while the master lover himself was hiding in his workshop? Most of the girls had known the name of the game and accepted the rules. So why didn't she?

How could she have been so stupid? Did she really think that while he hadn't slept with anyone after coming back from Afghanistan, not even with that stunningly beautiful assistant-spy, he wouldn't turn back to his old habits when his troubles with his health had evaded? 

She buried her face in the pillow. His pillow, she had fallen asleep, happy and content with this scent in her nose. She wanted not to cry for feeling aroused. 

Yes, she had been that stupid. 

How could they go back to their easy friendship after this? Well, the friendship had never been an easy one, but a friendship anyway. 

Only a very very stupid girl would think that Tony Stark would fall in love with her. 

They had been friends, but he hadn't even told her he was dying! And that her new assistant was a spy! What kind of friendship was that? 

No-one was going to come and shoo her away from this room. She had to leave herself, go down to Tony's workshop, give her signed resignation on paper and leave the house like nothing special had happened. 

Stupid, very stupid girl. She really hated job hunting.

She had a nagging feeling that she had slept with her boss. She laughed bitterly in her mind for the thought. She hadn't. Technically she had been the boss when they had swum in the sea of pleasures. 

She had dreamed of this night for years. Reality had exceeded her fantasies. 

She dried her tears to the pillow. She had to leave in the morning, but it was still nighttime. 

She spun around where he had slept, curled herself in the sheets, hugged his pillow and let herself fall back into sweet, relaxing dreams.


	2. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I united the last 3 chapters into one.
> 
> Edit: I updated a short conversation about one rule to the end.

When she woke up again, the room was lit by the warm afternoon sunlight.

When she turned around, she saw Tony sitting next to her in bed. He was wearing red boxers and a black t-shirt and playing with a hologram of a suit.

"Morning, sleepyhead." He made the blueprint disappear.

"What time is it?" She felt a headache coming. It was very unusual for her to sleep this much.

"It's half past five, miss." Did the AI sound amused?

She covered her eyes with her hands to avoid the bright light and turned around to face the man next to her. She'd better get this over with.

"Tony, I'm going to resign."

"Sure," he said nonchalantly but with a faint smile lurking in the corner of his mouth (she really, really wanted to kiss that mouth). Was that it? Did he really let her go that easily? Did he want her to go now when he had had the only thing he wanted from her all along?

She didn't want to quit but she didn't see any other option. The last three months had been a roller coaster in hell for her because of his crazy behavior. And now when they had slept together, she couldn't go back to the assistant role anymore.

"You have six months resignation time in your contract," he continued with his oh-I'm-totally-serious voice. Did he really know and care which kind of contract she had?"…but I'll set you free in three with one condition," he finished with a grin.

"Which is…?" She tried to sound nonchalant and bored with any more tricks. Part of her wished and another feared, that he was going to say "another night with you."

"Next three months, we'll work together. I'll teach you everything you need to know about being the CEO."

"Oh, you'll teach me?" Pepper mocked him and rose facing him in a sitting position. "Like you would know, you've always tried to avoid everything that has to do with leading the company."

"And I very much know what I've tried to avoid." He grinned, but she saw the dark shadow on his face. "Obie taught me everything about the stupid social games that are played in the field. I hate them but I'll teach you."

She had seldom seen him so bitter and so serious.

"Alright, let's do that. If I don't like it, I can leave after three months."

"Yes. Deal?" He offered his hand.

"Deal."

They shook hands and looked at each others' eyes. The gesture felt funny in its seriousness since she was naked inside the covers and they were in bed.

"Oh, and the other thing", he continued with a delighted voice.

"What thing?" She was wary. When Tony was delighted it usually meant he was up to something extraordinarily stupid and frivolous. She had had enough of his surprises.

"Do you marry me now, or do you wanna take it slow?"

"What?!" She's not sure she had heard right. During all those years she had fantasized about him, she had never dreamed of marrying him.

"I've got the jet ready, we'd be in Vegas in no time."

"No, Tony, no." Yes, her body screamed loudly but silent. "Tony, I…"

Suddenly her arms and legs curled around him, her mouth kissing his mouth, his neck, his cheeks…

"Is this taking it slow for you," he said, amused when her mouth took a break for covering his. His arms were around her, too.

"Tony, I…" Her hands were petting his hair. "I…" Speaking her mind had never been so difficult. "I, I want…" And then she kissed him again.

"What do you want, Pepper?" he articulated slowly with a low, husky but more than a bit amused voice, and kissed her collarbone.

Pepper's hand reached for his boxers, but her mind finally caught her body.

"Tony, we must talk about this."

"Sure, talk." His hands were still warming her naked back. "What do you want?" Her hand was finding her way under his boxers. He didn't stop her (of course he didn't!) and when she was holding his member she finally got her thoughts out.

"Yes, I want to be with you, in a relationship!" But soon doubts turned her enthusiasm aside. "But what does it mean?"

"It means you're gonna sleep here in my bed every night when you are here."

"Even when you're not sleeping here with me?" She caressed his sides with her both hands, carefully avoiding the reactor. He drew her into a slow, caring kiss.

"I'll be sleeping with you. I'll always be sleeping with you."

She rolled her eyes.

"Like tonight when I woke up and you were gone." She let her head drop. She believed in honesty as a necessary ground for a relationship. So she could as well say it. "I think you were gone and wanted me to leave, too."

Tony held her tight. "I'll never want you to leave."

She didn't calm down. On the contrary.

"Tony, please! Stop making promises you can't keep. I know you mean well, but I know you don't do serious relationships…" She looked distressed and a little bit sad. "…and can't be monogamous!"

"What? I do serious and I can be monogamous!"

She gave him her oh-please-I'd-never-believe-anything-that-stupid look. He had seen that quite often during the last three months.

"Wanna bet? How about I'll give you 90% of my SI stocks if I cheat on you?"

"Tony, no! This is too much. This is far too much. Just, no." She took a deep breath the way she had learned to calm herself down.

"Okay, no promises." He caressed her back and lifted her on his lap. "Just let's be here, like this." He curled her arms around him and let her body relax against his warm chest. He adjusted her away from the reactor.

She loved his scent. It was funny how it calmed her down no matter the situation.

"How about… just figuring out slowly, day by day, how to be together?" She loved rules and systems, but she knew that they had to find theirs by trial and error. It could be easy to blame Tony being the irresponsible one, but she wasn't very good at serious relationships herself. She had never really tried one.

"Sounds good." He kissed her left cheek… "Excellent." …and her nose… "Perfect."…and her right cheek.

"Oh, one rule," she curled against him but not very tight so she could hold an eye contact. "If one of us..." she pointed at him with her index finger "is in the danger of dying in the foreseeable future, he or she must tell about it to the other" she pointed at herself "immediately." 

He held her tight, let his chin rest on her hair. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She had never heard him speak so soft, sad and sincere way. It felt like a small current of electricity going down on her spin inside her. "I was going to... I tried, but I didn't want you to worry about me."

"Tony, I rather worry about you than don't know what's going on." 

"Okay, I'll give you plenty of things to worry about." That charming boyish grin again! 

"That's not what I meant." 

"Isn't it? Is this what you mean, then?" He lowered his head and gave her plenty of time to eagerly meet the kiss. She curled her legs around him. She was totally not going to say "I love you Tony Stark" for that smirk, but she kind of did anyway.

"I love you too, Peppermint," he said trailing his tongue down on her belly.


End file.
